Tips On Getting Started:
there are a number of ways to start the process of learning
animation. One is to buy books and teach yourself. The Bible of the
industry is the "Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and
Ollie Johnston. The information and drawings in this book make it
worth the fifty dollars or more that you will pay for it. These 12
principles became the gospel according to the nine old men of
animation that worked with Walt Disney in founding the industry that
you see today. Don't just read it; memorize it, learn it and use it
every time you draw. There is no short cut for skills and knowledge.
It all starts will heart and desire; do you have it?

THE 12 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
ANIMATION Paraphrased from the "Illusion Of Life" by
Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston.(pp.47-69) Look these up and read
the original version for a complete understanding.

1. Squash and stretch

2. Anticipation

3. Staging

4. Straight Ahead
Action and Pose to Pose

5. Follow Through and
Overlapping Action

6. Slow In and Slow Out

7. Arcs

8. Secondary Action

9. Timing

10. Exaggeration

11. Solid Drawing

12. Appeal

1. SQUASH AND STRETCH

This action gives the
illusion of weight and volume to a character as it moves. Also squash
and stretch is useful in animating dialogue and doing facial
expressions. How extreme the use of squash and stretch is, depends on
what is required in animating the scene. Usually it's broader in a
short style of picture and subtler in a feature. It is used in all
forms of character animation from a bouncing ball to the body weight
of a person walking. This is the most important element you will be
required to master and will be used often.

2. ANTICIPATION

This movement prepares the
audience for a major action the character is about to perform, such
as, starting to run, jump or change expression. A dancer does not
just leap off the floor. A backwards motion occurs before the forward
action is executed. The backward motion is the anticipation. A comic
effect can be done by not using anticipation after a series of gags
that used anticipation. Almost all real action has major or minor
anticipation such as a pitcher's wind-up or a golfers' back swing.
Feature animation is often less broad than short animation unless a
scene requires it to develop a characters personality.

3. STAGING

A pose or action should
clearly communicate to the audience the attitude, mood, reaction or
idea of the character as it relates to the story and continuity of
the story line. The effective use of long, medium, or close up shots,
as well as camera angles also helps in telling the story. There is a
limited amount of time in a film, so each sequence, scene and frame
of film must relate to the overall story. Do not confuse the audience
with too many actions at once. Use one action clearly stated to get
the idea across, unless you are animating a scene that is to depict
clutter and confusion. Staging directs the audience's attention to
the story or idea being told. Care must be taken in background design
so it isn't obscuring the animation or competing with it due to
excess detail behind the animation. Background and animation should
work together as a pictorial unit in a scene.

4. STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE
TO POSE ANIMATION

Straight ahead animation
starts at the first drawing and works drawing to drawing to the end
of a scene. You can lose size, volume, and proportions with this
method, but it does have spontaneity and freshness. Fast, wild action
scenes are done this way. Pose to Pose is more planned out and
charted with key drawings done at intervals throughout the scene.
Size, volumes, and proportions are controlled better this way, as is
the action. The lead animator will turn charting and keys over to his
assistant. An assistant can be better used with this method so that
the animator doesn't have to draw every drawing in a scene. An
animator can do more scenes this way and concentrate on the planning
of the animation. Many scenes use a bit of both methods of animation.

5. FOLLOW THROUGH AND
OVERLAPPING ACTION

When the main body of the
character stops all other parts continue to catch up to the main mass
of the character, such as arms, long hair, clothing, coat tails or a
dress, floppy ears or a long tail (these follow the path of action).
Nothing stops all at once. This is follow through. Overlapping action
is when the character changes direction while his clothes or hair
continues forward. The character is going in a new direction, to be
followed, a number of frames later, by his clothes in the new
direction. "DRAG," in animation, for example, would be when
Goofy starts to run, but his head, ears, upper body, and clothes do
not keep up with his legs. In features, this type of action is done
more subtly. Example: When Snow White starts to dance, her dress does
not begin to move with her immediately but catches up a few frames
later. Long hair and animal tail will also be handled in the same
manner. Timing becomes critical to the effectiveness of drag and the
overlapping action.

6. SLOW-OUT AND SLOW-IN

As action starts, we have
more drawings near the starting pose, one or two in the middle, and
more drawings near the next pose. Fewer drawings make the action
faster and more drawings make the action slower. Slow-ins and
slow-outs soften the action, making it more life-like. For a gag
action, we may omit some slow-out or slow-ins for shock appeal or the
surprise element. This will give more snap to the scene.

7. ARCS

All actions, with few
exceptions (such as the animation of a mechanical device), follow an
arc or slightly circular path. This is especially true of the human
figure and the action of animals. Arcs give animation a more natural
action and better flow. Think of natural movements in the terms of a
pendulum swinging. All arm movement, head turns and even eye
movements are executed on an arcs.

8. SECONDARY ACTION

This action adds to and
enriches the main action and adds more dimension to the character
animation, supplementing and/or re-enforcing the main action.
Example: A character is angrily walking toward another character. The
walk is forceful, aggressive, and forward leaning. The leg action is
just short of a stomping walk. The secondary action is a few strong
gestures of the arms working with the walk. Also, the possibility of
dialogue being delivered at the same time with tilts and turns of the
head to accentuate the walk and dialogue, but not so much as to
distract from the walk action. All of these actions should work
together in support of one another. Think of the walk as the primary
action and arm swings, head bounce and all other actions of the body
as secondary or supporting action.

9. TIMING

Expertise in timing comes
best with experience and personal experimentation, using the trial
and error method in refining technique. The basics are: more drawings
between poses slow and smooth the action. Fewer drawings make the
action faster and crisper. A variety of slow and fast timing within a
scene adds texture and interest to the movement. Most animation is
done on twos (one drawing photographed on two frames of film) or on
ones (one drawing photographed on each frame of film). Twos are used
most of the time, and ones are used during camera moves such as
trucks, pans and occasionally for subtle and quick dialogue
animation. Also, there is timing in the acting of a character to
establish mood, emotion, and reaction to another character or to a
situation. Studying movement of actors and performers on stage and in
films is useful when animating human or animal characters. This frame
by frame examination of film footage will aid you in understanding
timing for animation. This is a great way to learn from the others.

10. EXAGGERATION

Exaggeration is not extreme
distortion of a drawing or extremely broad, violent action all the
time. It¹s like a caricature of facial features, expressions,
poses, attitudes and actions. Action traced from live action film can
be accurate, but stiff and mechanical. In feature animation, a
character must move more broadly to look natural. The same is true of
facial expressions, but the action should not be as broad as in a
short cartoon style. Exaggeration in a walk or an eye movement or
even a head turn will give your film more appeal. Use good taste and
common sense to keep from becoming too theatrical and excessively animated

11. SOLID DRAWING

The basic principles of
drawing form, weight, volume solidity and the illusion of three
dimension apply to animation as it does to academic drawing. The way
you draw cartoons, you draw in the classical sense, using pencil
sketches and drawings for reproduction of life. You transform these
into color and movement giving the characters the illusion of
three-and four-dimensional life. Three dimensional is movement in
space. The fourth dimension is movement in time.

12. APPEAL

A live performer has
charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does
not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have
appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute. Appeal, as
you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and
personality development that will capture and involve the
audience¹s interest. Early cartoons were basically a series of
gags strung together on a main theme. Over the years, the artists
have learned that to produce a feature there was a need for story
continuity, character development and a higher quality of artwork
throughout the entire production. Like all forms of story telling,
the feature has to appeal to the mind as well as to the eye.

Hopefully these tips will
help you understand more about the process of animation and spark
your interest in the field of ³The Fine Art of Animation².